Reaching for Stardust // Josh Kiszka

Part VIII

Word Count: ~3200

Warnings: none:)

A/N: I really hope you guys enjoy this chapter. I love love stories...especially this one <3

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When we got back home, I was dying to talk to Bev and the boys. First, I consulted Bev, who went through a series of facial expressions so profound I faltered here and there throughout the entire retelling of the vacation. I could see the anger there when I told her about Josh's secret and how he revealed it and her being upset on my behalf was validating. I hadn't been out of bounds for merely being caught off guard and upset myself about what he'd kept from me. But then the same recognition, relief and forgiveness I had felt was shown on Bev's face and I didn't have to worry about her judgment, though I had worried about that quite a bit prior to seeing her. I'd worried that she'd take things to a drastic level. Thankfully, she didn't and I was able to walk away from the conversation feeling an enormous amount of love from her that melted into the enormous amount of love I felt from Josh.

The boys weren't coming back from their little Midwest tour for another week so I had to settle for a Facetime call with Jake, the one I was most anxious to discuss things with. I settled onto the couch, eagerly awaiting for him to pick up–when he did, I couldn't help but grin wildly, the excitement of merely seeing his face enough to override my nerves.

"Hey, you," Jake greeted in that kind, husky voice that had a natural soothing quality. He squinted, inspecting me through the little screen. "You don't look that tan."

I scoffed and looked down at my arm. "I got some color, Jake, jeez. Blame the phone camera for not being able to see my glow."

Josh tilted his head one way, then the other, still looking at me hard. "Glowing from something else besides the sun?"

"No, I'm not pregnant," I told him with a roll of my eyes. "And we're also not engaged yet–technically–if that's what you're after."

"Seriously? I thought he was gonna pop the question during this trip." Jake sighed. "I mean, come on. You two should already be married."

"Um, well, I agree," I began, crossing my legs and beginning to fiddle with a stray thread on one of my socks. No doubt Jake knew I was the one who'd put the barrier up between Josh and I and marriage and I didn't feel like getting into that then. "But he did bring something else up during the trip. I was wondering if he'd talked to you about it beforehand, actually."

"What?"

"He had a job interview at a college in Savannah. He thought about us moving there."

Jake's brow furrowed and I couldn't tell if he was just perplexed or a little upset or both. "Really?" was all he said, and then I knew he was feeling hurt. Not the same as the hurt I'd felt–different. Perhaps even deeper. Josh absolutely never kept secrets from Jake throughout their entire lives.

"Yeah. It took me by surprise too," I told him. "I'm also surprised he didn't mention it to you. It's not like Josh to be able to keep his mouth shut for like, anything."

Jake chuckled softly, then his face fell into a frown again. "I know. That's very strange. I suppose I'm glad he didn't tell me and not you but–"

I sighed. "Yeah. I know."

"He really didn't tell you anything?"

I shook my head. "No. Nothing until we were right outside the university. It scared the hell out of me, Jake," I confessed. It was always so easy to talk openly with him–I was grateful for that, for how much our friendship had grown over the years. "Suddenly he drops this bomb and I couldn't make sense of it all right then and there. We talked more, obviously, and it's not even like he's dead-set on moving there but–"